Kreep
by Maximum Miles Hedgehog
Summary: On a day that seemed just like any other day an egg suddenly falls from the sky and Amy takes it upon herself to care for it. Shadow wants nothing to do with Amy or her egg, but the pink hedgehog insists on dragging him into this little affair. And when the egg hatches, the situation ends up going from annoying to outright...creepy...
1. the egg

_**Kreep**_

_...((into my heart))..._

_**1**...((the egg))...  
_

One minute she was happily walking down the sidewalk, humming a little tune to herself while she swung her shopping bag to and fro. And then, in the blink of an eye, she was on the ground seeing stars, her mind a whirl of confusion.

With all the crazy things the pink hedgehog regularly endured, surprises really came as no surprise, but sometimes they still hurt. A lot.

"Ow..." Amy moaned, squinting as she sat up slowly and rubbed her head. Pain was pulsing through her skull, a very sharp and very aggravating sort of pain. "What the heck is wrong with this city? A girl can't walk down the street without worrying about something knocking her brains out!"

"Are you alright?" a deep masculine voice asked, his somewhat flat tone conveying slight amusement rather than genuine concern. She regarded the speaker with her one open eye and promptly scowled when she saw an all too familiar black and red hedgehog.

"Do I look like I'm alright to you?" she snapped. "Some crazy just dropped a boulder on my head! And where the heck did you come from anyway?"

Despite her outburst, Shadow's expression remained coolly indifferent. He looked away from her, reached down, and picked up the object that had struck her a moment ago.

"For your information, I happen to live around here. And this hardly looks like a boulder." he said, examining the roundish item he now held in his gloved palm.

"Well, it sure felt like one!"

"Hn..." Shadow tossed it vertically and caught it. "Doesn't feel as heavy as a boulder either."

"How about I drop it on _your _head and see what you have to say after that?"

He ignored her and began turning the item around. Suddenly stopping, the ebony hedgehog quirked an eyebrow. "It seems you hurt it more than it hurt you, Rose." he stated.

"What?"

"It's cracked...and bleeding..."

Amy's brow furrowed curiously. She got to her feet and snatched the small white sphere from Shadow, examining it for herself. Sure enough, his observation had been correct.

"Wait...is this an egg?" she wondered, forgetting her previous anger. A clear goo-like substance was seeping out from the crack and some of the ooze clung to the fabric of her glove after she brushed her finger over the spot.

"That appears to be the case." replied Shadow. "It must have fallen from its nest on one of these buildings here."

"Aw, poor thing..."

"Yes, how tragic. Now if you don't mind, I have some shopping to finish."

"Wait a second, Shadow!" Amy called. "We have to help it!"

"So long as it doesn't involve me, you can do whatever you want with it, Rose." he told her and continued forward.

"Shadow! Ugh, you heartless bastard!" she pouted and stamped her foot, glaring razor sharp daggers at his retreating figure. "That jerk doesn't have a compassionate bone in his entire body!"

Fuming, she returned her gaze to the egg, which was still leaking transparent goo. Her expression softened. She needed to get this egg help quick, but her house was on the other side of town and the homes of her friends weren't in walking distance either. Was there anyplace she could go that was close by?

A thought struck her and a sly smirk spread across her muzzle.

"Well, I _am _in the neighborhood..." she mused aloud, emerald green orbs gleaming mischievously. "And it _has _been a long time since I paid him a proper visit. Of course, he might not be home right now, but you know, this _is _an emergency so I'm sure he'll understand my reason for invading his oh so private domain while he's away..."

Her mind made, Amy hugged the egg to her chest, snatched up her shopping bag, and hurried off.


	2. an unexpected guest

_**Kreep**_

_...((into my heart))..._

_**2**__...((an unexpected guest))..._

Shadow hated shopping with a passion, especially when he was shopping for food at the grocery store. He hated the bright lighting of the place, he hated the incessant squeaking of shopping carts rolling through the aisles, and he hated how he always had to wait a ridiculous amount of time in line there. But what he hated most was the mothers who brought their noisy kids grocery shopping. The whining, crying, and outright screaming of those damn brats was endless. Every time he ventured inside that store he had to resist the strong urge to rip off his ears.

Needless to say, Shadow was one irritated hedgehog after he finished acquiring some much needed food supplies for his practically empty refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. He proceeded straight home from the store, eager to return to the quiet solitude of his apartment. When he got there, however, it was neither quiet nor empty.

"Hey, Shadow!" Amy beamed, sitting on his living room couch. "You took a lot longer coming back than I expected. Oh yay, and you brought food! I couldn't find anything to eat here but some barbeque flavored chips, and I _hate _barbeque flavored chips." she puckered her lips and crinkled her nose.

Holding two heavy grocery bags in each hand, Shadow stood motionless, his blank gaze fixed upon the girl.

"How did you get in here?" he asked her, his voice lacking emotion.

"Through the window." she grinned smugly. "It's a good thing you left it open, too, because otherwise I would've smashed your door down."

"...I see." was all he said. "And why is it that you are in my apartment uninvited?"

"Well, I needed to get Egbert some medical supplies quick and your place just happened to be close by. Plus, you seemed so concerned about him earlier that I thought you would want to see him again."

She then turned sideways and brought forth the egg nestled in a red bath towel. Tape covered its crack and its shell now bore a smiley face drawn with a black marker.

"See, he's all better!"

Shadow's impassive expression never changed. "Wonderful...now get out."

"Okay, but only after we have lunch."

Setting her egg back down, Amy sprang up, yanked Shadow's grocery bags from his hands, and headed to the kitchen with them. But before she entered the next room, she stopped and looked over her shoulder, giving the ebony hedgehog a sinister glare.

"I have a nasty headache and a sore knot on my head, so it would be really kind of you to just let me rest here awhile without complaint. Or perhaps you would understand me better if I got out my hammer." she threatened.

Dispassionate rubies stared into piercing emeralds. Amy's eyes clearly displayed her feelings, but a veil of indifference concealed whatever Shadow was currently thinking.

At length, he took a deep breath and sighed, finally allowing a tinge of annoyance to show in his face. "You have a lot of nerve coming in here without my permission, Rose, but I'm not in the mood to deal with your crazy drama. Just go and make something."

She smiled widely, her grass green orbs brightening. "I'll cook us a meal fit for a king!"

As she left, Shadow's ear twitched. Who did she think she was threatening him in his own apartment? And why the hell hadn't he Chaos Speared her into oblivion?

_'Not in the mood...' _he reminded himself. Anger was an emotion that required a large amount of mental energy to sustain and he simply didn't have that much mental energy right now. Shopping had sapped the life out of him.

With another sigh, he plopped down on the couch, slouching and closing his eyes. The obnoxiously chipper music of a cartoon show Amy had been watching played before him and dreadful rays of sunlight were filling the room because she had opened his curtains, but he ignored these two grievances. So long as his pink intruder kept her mouth shut, he could relax even if there were other signs of her presence within his home.

"Shadow, why didn't you get any eggs?" she called, abruptly ending his state of tranquility. Of course, how could he forget Amy's most irksome trait was her inability to stay quiet for more than a few minutes?

"I never buy eggs, Rose." he replied, keeping his eyes closed and his facial muscles relaxed.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't eat them."

"Why not?"

Shadow frowned slightly. "Listen, Rose, if you want an egg so badly, why don't I feed you this one beside me?"

"Touch Egbert, Shadow, and I'll ground you into powder and then burn your crushed remains until there's nothing left of you but a scorch mark on the carpet."

He grunted, somewhat amused by her words. "I'd like to see you try that."

"No, believe me, you wouldn't."


	3. lunch

_**Kreep**_

_...((into my heart))..._

_**3**__...((lunch))..._

"You keep it really, really clean in here, Shadow."

"Hn."

"I mean like neat freak clean. The forks in your drawer are arranged so that they're all lying perfectly straight with the exact same amount of space between each one."

"No, they're not."

"Yeah, they are."

"I think I would know how my own forks are arranged, Rose, and I certainly don't waste my time with trying to position them perfectly."

"Mmhm. You just don't want to admit that your place is excessively organized."

"I am not excessive."

"Yeah, you are."

"No, I'm not. Contradict me again and you'll find yourself tossed out the same window you came in."

"Pff, like you would dare."

"Try me."

"...Whatever. And stop glaring at Egbert like that. You're making him nervous."

"Get it off my table and I'll comply."

"Stop calling him an 'it' and I'll put him back on the couch."

"..."

The pink hedgehog smirked and began eating her spaghetti again. Shadow, glowering at the smiling egg, absentmindedly twirled his fork around on his plate.

The loud ring of the phone seized the attention of both hedgehogs. Amy's ears perked, but Shadow was slow to answer the call, sighing as he rose from the table after the fourth ring. He walked over to the living room and picked up a cordless phone off the coffee table there. Without sparing the caller ID a glance, he pressed the talk button.

Amy watched him with interest for a short while, wondering who his caller was. A faint chirp soon directed her focus to the egg, though.

"Was that you, Egbert?" she asked. The egg was silent.

She pushed her plate aside and carefully slid the egg closer to her by pulling on the towel wrapping it. Pressing her ear against the smooth shell, she listened intently for a sound and heard the softest of coos. A serge of delight made her heart flutter.

_"My dear Egbert..." _she whispered. _"Are you about to hatch?"_

She heard another coo and her smile doubled in length, excitement coursing through her veins.

"Rose."

Shadow's deep voice got her to raise her eyes.

"It seems your friends are in a situation." he said.

Straightening herself, Amy's expression immediately became one of concern. "What happened? Is Eggman attacking?"

"No, but they did run into a group of his robots that were out searching for something."

"Searching for what?"

"From what Rouge tells me, your fox friend has picked up a few dimensional disturbances on a radar today. They're apparently being caused by temporary rifts in the space-time continuum, a rare but natural occurrence, and your posse is concerned that Eggman might try to utilize these rifts for whatever reason. Your friends are currently wandering around trying to pinpoint where the rifts are and Rouge called to ask if I've seen anything unusual that might give them a lead. But besides the fact that I have a pink intruder in my apartment, everything's been rather normal for me today. What about you?"

She pursed her lips in contemplation, looking at the ceiling while her index finger tapped her chin. "Hmm...Well, an egg did drop on my head today, but is that really so unusual?"

"It's your call."

The pink she-hog considered it for a moment longer before shaking her head. "Nah, I doubt Egbert has anything to do with a dimensional rift." she decided and dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand. "He's just a regular ole egg."

Once she gave her answer, Shadow returned to his phone conversation. It ended less than a minute later and he strolled back to the dining room table, settling into his previous seat.

"You're not going to help your friends search?" he asked Amy.

"No, it doesn't sound all that urgent and I gotta keep a close eye on Egbert so I don't miss the moment he hatches. Plus, Sonic will be with them and I don't want to see him right now. We're having a fight." she informed him.

"Hn." Shadow merely grunted and started eating the remainder of his pasta much to Amy's disappointment.

"Don't you want to know what it's about?" she inquired.

"I didn't ask, did I?"

She glared at him and then huffed, crossing her arms. "Oh fine! I didn't want to tell you anyway!"

The apathetic hedgehog just kept working on clearing his plate.


	4. a trip through a rift

_**Kreep**_

_...((into my heart))..._

_**4**__...((a trip through a rift))..._

A barely audible whimper escaped Cream as she poked out her bottom lip. She was trying hard to remain a good little girl and not complain, but that task grew harder with each passing second.

She and Tails had been walking around for two hours now and her feet were killing her. The eight year old rabbit was also quite bored considering they had yet to see anything interesting during their search for dimensional rifts. Cheese had even fallen asleep in her arms.

"Hmm...There seems to be a strong signal over here..." Tails muttered, studying the screen of his dimensional disturbance pulse sensor, a device that looked an awful lot like a walkie-talkie.

Cream almost rolled her cinnamon brown eyes. She had lost count of how many times he had spoken those words.

"Are you seeing anything, Cream?" the two-tailed fox asked her, his gaze never leaving the sensor within his grasp.

"No, nothing..." she replied, though she didn't bother to examine the filthy alley they were currently walking through. "Tails, isn't it possible that there aren't any rifts and your sensor is just malfunctioning?"

"No, there's a rift somewhere around here for certain. It's hard to pinpoint the location of rifts, though, because they're pretty erratic, practically popping in and out of existence. But don't worry, I think we're getting close to one."

"You don't think any monsters from another world will come out of it, do you?"

"Well, these rifts don't seem stable enough to allow safe travel in-between worlds, but you never know. That's why it's important that we check them all out before Eggman gets to them. We wouldn't want him catching some creature he could use against us."

"Yeah..." she sighed, wincing at a sharp pain in her heel. Despite knowing their search was important, she still couldn't help her feelings of immense boredom. When they were first starting out, she relished the idea of spending time alone with her crush. But Tails paid her little attention throughout their walk and he was rather unresponsive to her conversation attempts unless the subject held a connection to the sciences of space and time.

_'Maybe I should have gone shopping with Amy after all.' _she thought sullenly._ 'It probably would've taken hours, too, but at least the shops have plenty of places to sit dow-'_

"Woah, that's massive!" Tails exclaimed, spinning around. "Cream, I just got a big reading on the ground right behind us!"

The alley was dead silent. Finally lifting his sky blue orbs, the yellow-orange fox searched the area for his rabbit companion, but she was no where to be seen. Confusion furrowed his brow.

"Cream?"

ooOOoo

All the talk of dimensional rifts had put Knuckles on edge. Legs folded, he sat near the Master Emerald, his arms crossed over his chest while his narrowed violet eyes continually scanned the land and sky. Beneath his red dreadlocks his ears were alert and his whole body was tense with anticipation. Something troublesome was sure to happen today. He could sense it in his gut.

His ears then picked up a distant, high-pitched sound. Immediately his muscles went rigid and his eyes searched madly for whatever was causing the noise. Was it a siren? It drew closer and he discarded this assumption. No, it actually sounded more like someone screaming. A girl screaming. And if his ears were correct, it was coming from above.

Knuckles jerked his head upwards. Gaping, he stared in absolute horror as he witnessed the sight of a young female plummeting right out of the sky!

Quickly regaining his senses, the echidna leapt to his feet and sprinted forward, stretching forth his arms just in time to catch the damsel. The moment her descent stopped, her shrill screaming ceased and she instead repeatedly blinked her wide eyes, surprised that she hadn't died upon hitting the ground. Dazed, she soon found herself looking into purplish blue orbs.

"Mr. Knuckles." she breathed, heart pounding against her chest.

"Cream?" he wondered, utter confusion written across his face. It wasn't that he didn't recognize her, but something was off about her appearance. He didn't recall her ever having long orange bangs and her floppy ears seemed much bigger than usual. Not to mention her face looked far too mature for an eight year old.

"Oh, Mr. Knuckles, I don't know what happened. I was walking with Tails one moment and then suddenly I was falling through this red darkness and then I was falling from the sky!" she cried. "I thought I would die for sure!"

Her words landed on deaf ears. The crimson echidna's horrified gaze was observing the form of the petite female, taking special notice of her developed chest and hips. Sweat trickled down his face and a deep blush colored his cheeks.

"Mr. Knuckles?" Cream sniffled. "What's wrong? Why is your face so red?"

He swallowed, unable to locate his voice. Her curiosity piqued by his odd expression, she followed the direction of his eyes, her breath hitching at what she discovered.

"Ch-Cheese? But...But how?" she stammered, a new batch of tears welling up within her eyes. "He was just fine a moment ago...He was...Oh, Mr. Knuckles, how did this happen? How did he turn into an egg?"

Knuckles opened his mouth and closed it, shaking his head as his discombobulated mind struggled to form an intelligent thought. Earlier he had sensed impending trouble, but nothing could have prepared him for this.


	5. a battle of wills

_**Kreep**_

_...((into my heart))..._

_**5**__...((a battle of wills))..._

Amy knocked three times on Shadow's door and then waited.

A minute went by.

She knocked three more times.

Thirty seconds went by.

She knocked thrice more.

Barely ten seconds passed before her fist delivered another three bangs to the door. With that, Shadow finally opened up.

Ruby orbs smouldering, his contempt for the pink hedgehog was unmistakable as he glared down at her. She grinned sheepishly.

"Uh, hey, Shadow. Long time no see, huh?"

"You haven't been gone for fifteen minutes, Rose." he nearly growled.

"Really? It felt longer than that..."

He narrowed his eyes until they were mere burning crimson slits. "What. Do. You. Want?"

She inhaled and heaved a sigh, her shoulders slumping. "Listen, I _was _on my way home, but you wouldn't believe how crazy it is out there. You know those dimensional rifts you told me about? Well, they're like everywhere!"

"What?"

"They were sucking things into the ground and spitting them out from the sky!" she shouted, flailing the arm that wasn't holding a bundled up Egbert. "I almost got squashed by a freakin' car!"

"Don't be dramatic, Rose." Shadow deadpanned.

"I'm not being dramatic, Shadow! It's literally raining chaos outside!"

The ebony hedgehog sighed, shutting his eyes and massaging his temple where he felt a headache forming. "Fine, but what do you want me to do about it? You'd be better off going to your fox friend with this."

"I can't really go anywhere right now. Chances are, I wouldn't make it five minutes on the street before a bus dropped on me."

His eyes opened slowly. "No."

"Now, Shadow-"

"No."

"If you would just-"

"Rose, no matter what you say my answer won't change."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Shadow, would you be reasonable for once?" Amy huffed and thrust her fist into her hip. "I can't go outside right now!"

"Then wait in the lobby until the rifts leave."

"There's no where to sit in the lobby."

"Last time I checked, there was a floor down there."

"Why can't I just stay with you for awhile?"

"Because I said you can't."

"Why not? You didn't seem to mind my company before."

"I did."

"I don't believe you."

Shadow crossed his arms and quirked an eyebrow, finding her remark intriguing. "Really?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes, really." Amy smirked. "You think you're so good at hiding your feelings, but I'll have you know that I can read you like an open book. Admit it, you actually enjoyed my company."

"You're hopelessly delusional." he smirked back.

"Hmph. At any rate, you're letting me stay here until it's safe to go outside. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"What makes you think it's safer in here than out there?"

"Well, I was in your apartment for a few hours and nothing came crashing through the roof." she shrugged. "That's a good enough sign for me."

He stared long and hard at her. Amy mimicked his solemn expression, standing tall and holding her head high. She refused to accept defeat here.

"Impertinent brat." Shadow broke the silence, though the icy edge was gone from his voice.

"Pigheaded bastard." she retorted.

He grunted and after a quiet moment full of tension, his eyes coolly shifted sideways. "Get in here already."

Amy was unable to suppress a delighted squeal. "Thanks, Shadow!" she grinned and bounced past him, shoving her shoulder against his stiff figure in the process. He hardly reacted to the contact, however, his steely glare fixed on the tacky carpet covering the hallway floor.

"Come on, Shadow, don't just stand there! Do you have any movies we can watch?"

His jaw clenched. He wasn't sure who he hated more, her or himself.


	6. Author's note

**Author's note**

No-one knows how much time they have to live on this earth, that's why you should spend your time doing what matters most to you.

This is what I've come to believe and it's the reason I am leaving you now. I've committed myself to a huge, crazy art project and it will be consuming my days for here on out. This fleshy portion of life is so very short, yet it leaves a great impact on what is to come after it has passed. And when the end comes, I want to be able to look back at my work with a pleased smile, knowing I did something grand in my small little corner of the world. I don't just want to inspire others, I want to inspire myself. I want to create a story full of magic and romance, darkness and light, and all things that are good, exciting, and beautiful. I want to create a story of epic proportions. Who knows if I will succeed but I plan to give it all I've got. So, yes, this is goodbye my dear readers. I'm off to embark on an adventure. I can't sit around here any longer just dreaming about it. I gotta go make it happen, or die trying.

Go out and do something awesome everyone. If you put your whole heart into it and work at it with all your might, you won't regret the effort even if the outcome isn't what you hoped for.

Max out :)


	7. Author's note again

Hello again everyone. I want to thank you all for your wonderful understanding and to give you a little preview on what I'm currently investing my time in.

I'm in an experimental music duo called **Treelit Avenue**. We're only just getting started and we don't even have a band page up yet, but we're working on that while recorded our **album** which will be **coming out soon**. As of right now, we have a little song uploaded on **Youtube** that we put together for fun. It's a remix of sorts of the Kingdom Hearts track "Dearly Beloved" and it will give you a good idea about the sound of our project. If you have the time, check it out and tell me what you think. Comments and criticisms are much appreciated.

Just type in **dearly beloved vocalization remix ashley banks **on **Google **and you'll get it.

Thank you for kindly reading this. You guys are awesome.

:)


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